Open AccessMagneto-optic polar Kerr and Faraday effects in periodic multilayers
Author(s) -
Š. Višňovský,
Kamil Postava,
Tomuo Yamaguchi
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.9.000158
Subject(s) - polar , faraday effect , magneto optic kerr effect , faraday cage , kerr effect , physics , permittivity , condensed matter physics , optics , magnetization , refractive index , diagonal , magnetic field , dielectric , quantum mechanics , mathematics , geometry , nonlinear system
Magnetooptic (MO) effects in magnetic multilayers with periodically stratified regions are analyzed for the case of normal light wave incidence and polar magnetization (Faraday and polar Kerr effects). From the universal 4 x 4-matrix formalism simplified analytical representations restricted to terms linear in the off-diagonal permittivity tensor elements are obtained with no loss in accuracy. The MO effects are expressed as weighted sums of contributions from individual layers. Approximate expressions useful for the evaluation of trends in MO effects are given for periodic multilayers consisting of blocks with ultrathin magnetic films. The procedure is illustrated on periodic systems built of symmetric units. Limits on the ultrathin approximation are discussed.